Responsiveness
Agencies will strive to understand the needs of child witnesses and to provide services responsive to those needs.
Overview
Child witnesses are a very diverse group, varying in everything from age to culture to their life experiences and their current situation. One common finding though, is that giving evidence for criminal proceedings can be particularly stressful for children.
The way children, particularly young children, think and communicate can mean that they find it difficult to recall and narrate events in the same way as an adult . Children may also not understand the justice process and feel confused or anxious about what will happen as a result of their evidence .
A child’s culture can also form a large part of their world and they may find themselves in an unfamiliar culture as well as surrounded by unfamiliar people in a completely new environment such as a courtroom . These factors can also make children feel stressed and anxious, resulting in a significant negative effect on children’s ability to recall memory.
Also, it cannot always be assumed that the child’s family/whānau is supportive. In some cases, particularly those where the complaint is against a family member, all or part of the family may not support the child giving evidence.
All agencies engaging with child witnesses will consider a range of developmental and social factors to identify the needs of each child, noting that the needs of the witness may change at different stages of the process.
To assist in ensuring responsiveness to child witnesses’ needs:
The investigation
Police, with Child, Youth and Family where involved, will ensure that the child is interviewed by the most appropriate person and in the most appropriate manner.
Police and Child, Youth and Family record forensic interviews. Police are responsible for the security of any recording made.
Preparing for court
Police will consult the child witness and their family/whānau about their preference in relation to ways of giving evidence in court.
The Police OC will liaise with the prosecutor and discuss the case, how the witnesses are likely to deal with giving evidence, timings of the trial and any particular issues or vulnerabilities the child witness may have.
The prosecutor will make an application to the judge regarding how the child will give evidence where the child is a complainant.
The prosecutor or the defence counsel can also make an application to the judge for the witness to give their evidence in an alternative way where the child is not the complainant.
The judge may also make directions regarding how the child witness should give evidence even if there are no applications.
Police should assess any communications needs, such as an interpreter, and make an application for assistance to the judge. The judge may also make a direction for communications assistance without a lawyer’s application.
Court staff will make arrangements for communication assistance if it is required for the purposes of a trial or defended hearing.
At court
The prosecutor will assess the schedule for the trial and work with the court and the judge to ensure that the child is able to give their testimony at a time that best meets the child’s needs.
The prosecutor and defence counsel are responsible for asking questions in a way that the child witness can understand. If they do not, they may be directed to do so by the judge.
More
Child Protection Protocol between New Zealand Police and Child, Youth and Family April 2010
Child, Youth and Family policy for interviewing children
Child, Youth and Family booklet: What Happens at a Forensic Interview
